For about twenty-five years, Construction Specialties, Inc. (xe2x80x9cCSIxe2x80x9d), the assignee of the present invention, has marketed a line of wall protection products under the trademark ACROVYN(copyright). The ACROVYN(copyright) line currently includes handrails, bumper guards, crash rails, corner guards and feature rails that are mounted on building walls, particularly in building areas where impacts from objects moving about are likely to occur, and protect the walls from impacts. ACROVYN(copyright) wall protection products are widely used in, for example, hospitals and nursing homes where equipment carts, food carts, wheelchairs, litters and other moving things are ubiquitous. Handrails in such settings also provide the needed support for infirm persons moving about. Products similar to those of the ACROVYN(copyright) line are available from several sources.
CSI""s ACROVYN(copyright) wall protection products and similar handrails, bumper guards, crash rails, corner guards and feature rails generally consist of either continuous extruded aluminum or rigid plastic retainers or spaced-apart mounting clips, which are suitably attached to the wall, and covers of an impact-resistant polymeric material in extruded profile form, such as polyvinyl chloride blended with a small amount of an acrylic polymer, which are attached to the retainers or clips. The retainers or clips support the covers on the wall and, in the case of most continuous retainers, provide strength and rigidity; the covers conceal the retainers or clips, provide a good-looking, durable surface, protect walls from impact, are resistant to marring and breaking, are easy to keep clean, and provide architects and designers with an aesthetically versatile system of wall protection devices that comes in many colors, textures and styles. Should the covers be damaged, they can easily be removed from the retainers or clips and replaced. Color coding of wall protectors can provide guidance for occupants, visitors and patients in medical-care and other settings. Handrails, bumper guards, crash rails, corner guards, and feature rails having elongated retainers or clips that support covers of a polymeric material are referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cwall protectorsxe2x80x9d; the retainers or clips of wall protectors are referred to as xe2x80x9cretainersxe2x80x9d; and the covers of polymeric material in thin web-like form mounted on the retainers are referred to as xe2x80x9ccovers.xe2x80x9d
Universally, wherever a length of a horizontal wall protector, such as a crash rail or a handrail, that is spaced apart from the wall has an exposed end, such as at a door or other opening or at the end of a wall, an end return piece is attached to the exposed end of the protector, usually by fastening it to the retainer. Where sections of horizontal wall protectors are mounted on walls forming an outside corner, it is common to use a corner piece to join the ends of the sections. The ends of corner guards and sections of crash rails and feature rails that are mounted directly against the wall usually have end caps, which close the ends of the cover, conceal the end of the retainer, and hold the cover in position on the retainer in the longitudinal direction.
The end return pieces, corner pieces, and end caps of all wall protectors are separate from the covers, are usually solid bodies that are in most cases made by injection-molding of a polymeric material, and are externally shaped to provide a generally rounded transition between the cover of the wall protector and either the wall on which it is mounted or another cover member on another wall. In particular, end return pieces have ends that lie close to the wall surface, finish the ends of rail sections for good appearance, and close up the space between the end of the rail section and the wall so that objects that impact them do not get caught on the end of the section. Generally, they are curved so that they deflect an object that contacts them away from the wall. Corner pieces usually have an external profile that matches that of the rail so that the surface of the corner piece is flush with the surfaces of the covers of the sections joined by the corner piece. In most cases, end return pieces and corner pieces include mounting brackets for fastening them to the retainers of the wall protectors, the retainers, in turn, being configured to accept the mounting brackets. End caps are sometimes attached directly to the wall.
The use of separate end return pieces, corner pieces and end caps in wall protectors means that there is always a visible line at the intersection of the cover with the end return piece, corner piece, or end cap. It is also difficult to provide a good match between the colors and textures of the end return pieces, cover pieces or end caps and the covers, inasmuch as the methods of making the covers differ from the methods of making the end return pieces, cover pieces and end caps. The visible lines and the differences in color and texture detract from the appearance of the wall protector. The requirement for having separate end return pieces, corner pieces, and end caps involves the costs of manufacturing them, the very high costs of maintaining an inventory, and the costs of installing them, all of which, of course, contribute to the total cost of a wall protector system in a building.
One object of the present invention is to provide wall protectors that do not require end return pieces, corner pieces, or end caps that are separate from the covers. Another object is to reduce the number of components that have to be produced and stocked for a given style of wall protector. It is also an object of the invention to improve the appearance of wall protectors by eliminating visible lines where end return pieces, corner pieces, or end caps abut covers and also eliminating the color and texture differences resulting from the use of end return pieces, corner pieces, or end caps that are separate from the covers. Still a further object is to simplify the installation of wall protectors.
The foregoing objects are attained, in accordance with the present invention, by a wall protector that includes a retainer adapted to be attached to a building wall and having a cover retainer portion and a cover of an impact resistant thermoplastic polymeric material attached to the cover retainer portion of the retainer. The cover includes at least one substantially straight portion of substantially uniform cross section along its length and having an external face portion overlying the retainer on the opposite side of the retainer from the building wall and a transition portion that is integral with the straight portion and has an end wall that curves smoothly away from the external face portion of the straight portion from a rounded juncture with the external face portion and overlies and conceals the end of the retainer. The integral transition portion may be configured as an end cap or a wall return piece that forms a transition between the straight portion and a wall surface or as a corner piece that joins sections of wall protectors mounted on walls that intersect at a corner.
As used herein, in particular, the term xe2x80x9cintegral transition portionxe2x80x9d means a portion of a cover that: (1) functions as an end cap by making a transition between the straight portion and the surface of a wall on which the wall protector is mounted by closing an opening that would otherwise exist at the end of the straight portion; or (2) functions as an end return piece by making a transition between the straight portion and a wall on which the wall protector is mounted and thus closing a gap that would otherwise be left at the end of the straight portion between the wall and both the cover and the retainer on which the cover is mounted; or (3) functions as a corner piece by making a transition between the straight portion and a section of a wall protector that is mounted on an adjacent, intersecting wall.
The integral transition portion of a cover member provided in accordance with the present invention has several advantages over end caps, end return pieces, and corner pieces that are separate from the cover of a wall protector, including:
(1) elimination of the visible line where the cover meets the separate end cap, end return piece, or corner piece, thus improving the appearance of the wall protector;
(2) ensuring uniformity of color and texture of the straight portion and the transition portion;
(3) eliminating the need to produce and maintain an inventory of, as well as to allocate, pack, and ship to job sites, separate end caps, end return pieces, and corner pieces;
(4) facilitating installation of the wall protectors.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cover retainer portion of the retainer has a pair of spaced apart flange portions that are received by edge attachment flange portions along opposite edges of a web portion of the cover such as to hold the cover on the retainer, the web portion of the cover constituting the external face of the cover and the flange portions being on or close to opposite edges of the web portion.
In embodiments in which the integral transition portion of the cover provides a transition between the straight portion and a wall on which a section of the wall protector is mounted, the integral transition portion, preferably, has an edge that is adapted to be positioned proximate to the wall surface. Such is the case when the integral transition portion serves as either an end cap or an end return piece. In the latter regard, end caps are generally used only when a wall protector is mounted directly on the wall and the flanges of the cover engage or are very close to the wall surface; end return pieces are used when the retainer and the cover are supported on brackets and are spaced apart from the wall.
A common form of wall protector embodying the present invention, such as a crash rail or feature rail, includes a cover having a substantially planar web portion. In such cases the integral transition portion has an external end surface that is a surface of revolution generated by a substantially straight line that is parallel to the plane of the web portion and perpendicular to the axis of the retainer.
A wall protector according to the present invention may be a corner guard in which the retainer is adapted to be installed vertically on a wall corner and has portions overlying the wall surfaces that form the corner. The web portion of the cover is substantially L-shaped in cross section, and the integral transition portion is generally L-shaped in plan and has an edge that is adapted to be positioned proximate to wall surfaces forming the wall corner.
In an embodiment of the invention in which the integral transition portion of the cover functions as a corner piece that joins sections of the wall protector mounted on intersecting walls, there are two retainers of the same cross-section, one being adapted to be mounted on one of the building walls and the other on the other of the building walls. The cover has two substantially straight portions of the same cross section, one of the straight portions being received on one of the retainers and the other straight portion being received on the other retainer. The integral transition portion is intermediate and connects the straight portions, has a cross-sectional shape substantially the same as that of the straight portions and is smoothly curved along its extent.